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Awards

Our agency and staff are frequently honored for their achievements in the fields of research, development, and service. Recent awards are showcased below.


Outstanding Journal of Teacher Education Article
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
February, 2010

Recipient(s): Cathy Carroll, Judith Mumme

WestEd's Cathy Carroll and Judith Mumme, along with fellow coauthors, received the 2010 award for Outstanding Journal of Teacher Education Article, presented by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. This award recognizes exemplary scholarship in the areas of teacher education or of teaching and learning with implications for teacher education.

Carroll, Mumme, and staff at Oregon State University and the University of Washington cowrote the award-winning Journal of Teacher Education article examining the quality of teachers' professional development for mathematics education. The article, published in September/October 2009, is based on the authors' research on how leaders learn to cultivate mathematically rich professional development environments. According to the authors, professional development leaders in mathematics need to cultivate sociomathematical norms for teacher explanation and employ practices to orchestrate discussions on developing teachers' specialized knowledge of mathematics education.

Mumme and Carroll facilitate WestEd's Learning to Lead Mathematics K-12 Professional Development Institutes, which develop the skills, sensibilities, and long-term capacities of leaders working with teachers at any grade, K-12. In addition, Mumme and Carroll authored Learning to Lead Mathematics Professional Development, ideal for those charged with supporting teacher leaders and others who lead mathematics professional development.

 

MarCom Awards
Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals
November, 2009

WestEd received seven MarCom awards from the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals. This international competition recognizes communication professionals involved in the concept, writing, and design of marketing and communication programs and print, visual, and audio materials. Entries come from corporate marketing and communication departments, advertising agencies, public relations firms, design shops, production companies, and freelancers. WestEd's winning entries are:The awards competition this year had nearly 6,000 entries from throughout the United States and several dozen other countries, with winning entries from a range of organizations, including individual communicators, media conglomerates, and Fortune 500 companies.
 

Best Places to Work in Bay Area 2009
San Francisco Business Times and the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal
July, 2009

WestEd has been recognized as one of the San Francisco Business Times and the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. This is the 4th time that WestEd has been so designated. The award, based solely on an anonymous survey of over 150,000 Bay Area employees at nearly 400 companies, recognizes that WestEd attracts, retains, and engages high-quality employees through positive working conditions, benefits, and organizational culture. The Best Places to Work survey measured employee satisfaction across nine categories: team effectiveness, alignment of goals, trust in co-workers, individual contribution, manager effectiveness, trust in senior leaders, feeling valued, work engagement, and people practices.
 

California AFFY Award
Alliance for Distance Education in California
February, 2009

Recipient(s): Fred Tempes

SchoolsMovingUp received an AFFY award from American Distance Education Consortium (ADEC) California chapter. The AFFY, which is short for Affinity Groups, honors distinguished distance education projects in California and the nation. Since SchoolsMovingUp launched about five years ago, it has grown tremendously with over 19,000 registered site members from all 50 states and 49 countries. Through SchoolsMovingUp, WestEd's Comprehensive School Assistance Program under the direction of Fred Tempes has hosted 90 webinars with over 18,000 registrants. All webinars are free, archived, and available for viewing on SchoolsMovingUp.
 

NSDC's Annual Susan Loucks-Horsley Award
The National Staff Development Council
December, 2008

Recipient(s): Cathy Carroll, Judith Mumme

Cathy Carroll and Judith Mumme, Senior Project Directors in WestEd's Mathematics, Science, and Technology Program, were honored at the National Staff Development Council (NSDC) 2008 Annual Conference in National Harbor, Maryland. The association presented them with the Susan Loucks-Horsley Award in recognition of their contributions to the field of professional development. Carroll and Mumme's most recent product, Learning to Lead Mathematics Professional Development, has been well received by the NSDC community.

This award, presented annually, salutes NSDC members whose research, writing, and professional relationships improve our understanding of change and promote high quality professional learning, particularly in mathematics and science. The award was established in honor of Susan Loucks-Horsley, a former WestEd employee who passed away in 2000. Susan was known throughout the United States and Europe for her pioneering research and development work in education change, professional development, and science and mathematics education.
 

MarCom Awards
Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals
November, 2008

The Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, an international organization of several thousand marketing, communication, advertising, public relations, and media professionals, announced that WestEd won three awards in its 2008 competition:The MarCom Platinum Award is for entries judged to be among the most outstanding in quality, creativity, and resourcefulness. The Gold Award is for entries that exceed the highest standards of the industry norm.
 

WestEd's 2006 Annual Report Wins Beacon Award
Association of Educational Publishers Announces Award Finalists and Winners at National Conference
June, 2008

The Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) announced that WestEd's 2006 Annual Report received the prestigious Beacon Award for excellence in education marketing. AEP, the national, nonprofit association for supplemental educational publishers and service providers, created the Beacon Award to highlight the outstanding contributions of publishing companies' sales and marketing staffs, as well as the many agencies present in this field.

Several WestEd publications were finalists for other AEP awards, including the agency's electronic newsletter, the WestEd E-Bulletin; a teacher resource, Mentoring New Teacher Through Collaborative Coaching; and a recent issue of the agency's biannual print newsletter, R&D Alert®, Vol. 9, No. 1, focusing on Improving Mathematics and Science Education.
 

WestEd's Center for Prevention and Early Intervention Receives Silver Award
California State Information Officers Council
May, 2008

Recipient(s): Elissa Provance, Kelley Versteegh

Kelley Versteegh and Elissa Provance from WestEd's Center for Prevention and Early Intervention received a Silver Award from the California State Information Officers Council in the "Brochure" category. "The Primary Health Care Providers' Role in Early Intervention," written for health care professionals, explains the components of California's early intervention system, and how health care professionals can help infants and toddlers, birth to 3 years, with developmental delays and disabilities. The brochure was developed for the California Department of Developmental Services.
 

WestEd's Paul Koehler Receives Prestigious Recognition
Sixth Annual President's Award, Excellence in Education
Arizona Educational Foundation
November, 2007

The Arizona Educational Foundation awarded the 6th Annual President's Award for Excellence in Education to Paul Koehler, Director of WestEd's Policy Center and of the Southwest Comprehensive Center at WestEd. Koehler was chosen for his significant contributions to education in Arizona. The Arizona Educational Foundation administers statewide programs that enhance the capabilities of Arizona’s schools to strengthen the teaching profession, design high-quality curricula, stimulate high student achievement, and celebrate the successes in K-12 public education in Arizona.
 

California Department of Education & WestEd Win Telly Award
Telly Award
October, 2007

A World Full of Language: Supporting Preschool English Learners, a DVD produced by WestEd's Center for Child and Family Studies for the California Department of Education (CDE), was a 2007 Bronze Winner in the 28th Annual Telly Awards international competition. The award honors the finest video and film productions as well as the very best local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs. The competition received over 14,000 entries from all 50 states and five continents.

"We are delighted by this recognition," said Glen Harvey, WestEd CEO. "We're hopeful that the evidence-based information and learning strategies in A World Full of Language will be used widely by preschool teachers, college instructors, and families in their important work of helping preschoolers learn English as a second language."

The DVD and accompanying booklet in English and Spanish explain how young children acquire English as a second language, and features research-based strategies for teachers to support English learners. The DVD is closed-captioned and formatted so that viewers can see it in its entirety or in sections. It is the companion for a CDE guidebook written by WestEd, Preschool English Learners: Principles and Practices to Promote Language, Literacy, and Learning. The book provides teachers with the knowledge and tools to educate preschool English learners most effectively.

Both are available for purchase from the California Department of Education. For ordering information, visit WestEd.org/PreschoolEnglishLearners.
 

Disability Advocate Award
Easter Seals Superior California
October, 2007

Recipient(s): Virginia Reynolds

Virginia Reynolds, Program Director for WestEd's Center for Prevention and Early Intervention, was awarded the 2007 Disability Advocate Award from Easter Seals Superior California. This award is presented annually to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding advocacy efforts on behalf of citizens with disabilities, including infants, children, adults, and their family members.
 

Telly Award 2007 Bronze Winner
The 29th Annual Telly Awards
August, 2007

The video, A World Full of Language, produced by the California Department of Education and WestEd's Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC), was a 2007 Bronze Winner in the 28th Annual Telly Awards international competition. The award honors the very best local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions. The competition received over 14,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents. The video is available for purchase from the California Department of Education — for information, click here.
 

Beacon Award and Distinguished Achievement Award
Association of Educational Publishers Announces 2007 Winners
June, 2007

The Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) honored WestEd with two awards in the organization's 2007 annual competition, the Distinguished Achievement Award for the agency newsletter, R&D Alert®, and the Beacon Award for WestEd.org, recognizing it as the nation's best education marketing website.
 

Susan Loucks-Horsley Award
The National Staff Development Council
December, 2006

Recipient(s): Susan Mundry

Susan Mundry, Associate Director of WestEd's Mathematics, Science, & Technology program, received the Susan Loucks-Horsley Award at the National Staff Development Council (NSDC) annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. NSDC recognized Mundry's distinguished contributions to the field by building bridges between organizations; mentoring others in research and writing; instilling in others a sense of possibility; and grounding her work in practice. NSDC also cited Mundry’s international leadership in improving the understanding of change processes and her promotion of high-quality, research-based professional learning in mathematics and science.
 

Distinguished Achievement Award and Beacon Award
Association of Educational Publishers Announces 2006 Winners
June, 2006

In a stiff industry-wide competition, the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) awarded WestEd two Distinguished Achievement Awards, one for WestEd.org for best institutional education website for adults, and the other for WestEd's monthly E-Bulletin for best newsletter. WestEd.org also won AEP's Beacon Award, recognizing it as the nation's best education e-commerce website.
 

Best Places to Work in the Bay Area
The San Francisco Business Times, the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, and the East Bay Business Times
April, 2006

For the third consecutive year, WestEd was named one of the "Best Places to Work in the Bay Area" by the San Francisco Business Times, the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, and the East Bay Business Times. More than 400 companies competed for inclusion on the list. Organizations were selected largely on the basis of over 100,000 anonymous employee surveys.
 

2005 Spotlight Awards
League of American Communications Professionals
November, 2005

WestEd took several honors in the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP) 2005 Spotlight Awards competition for print, video, and web communications. In the rigorous international competition, the agency's website, WestEd.org, was thrice honored, receiving the top Platinum Award for best-in-class website, a Bronze Award for best agency materials, and a coveted spot on the "Top 100 Communications Materials of 2005" list. The agency's electronic newsletter, WestEd E-Bulletin, won a Silver Award in the e-mail-based feature, newsletter, or magazine category.

WestEd's print materials also fared well. The WestEd 2004 Annual Report garnered a Silver Award in its class, while a postcard announcing a new free WestEd product, the English Language Development Student Report Card, garnered a Bronze Award. Two additional products received honorable mention: Rethinking High School: Five Profiles of Innovative Models for Student Success, developed by WestEd for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and, Inside High School Reform: Making the Changes That Matter, developed in conjunction with the California Academic Partnership Program (CAPP).

In winning the LACP awards, WestEd joins an elite class of global organizations - among them Fortune 100 companies and charitable service agencies - honored for an uncompromising commitment to high-quality communications. The annual competition is judged by professionals with expertise in corporate, executive, and internal communications. Judges are screened to ensure there are no conflicts of interest. The highly competitive Spotlight Awards involve several hundred hours of judging on areas such as first impression, graphic design, cover, creativity, message clarity, and information accessibility.
 

Standard of Excellence, Outstanding Achievement in Website Development
Web Marketing Association
October, 2005

WestEd garnered a prestigious Standard of Excellence award for Outstanding Achievement in Website Development in the 2005 WebAward Competition, hosted by the Web Marketing Association. The agency website, WestEd.org, competed against more than 2,100 sites from 33 countries.
 

WestEd Wins International Awards
League of American Communications Professionals
July, 2005

WestEd took high honors in the annual League of American Communications Professionals (LACP) Vision Awards competition. In a rigorous international competition, WestEd's 2004 Annual Report garnered the gold award in the education category and the silver in the nonprofit category.

This year's contest drew an unprecedented number of submissions, with more than 1,400 entries representing 17 countries. LACP's announcement follows on the heels of last month's news that the Association of Educational Publishers awarded several coveted top prizes to WestEd publications. WestEd CEO Glen Harvey emphasized the agency's commitment to quality. "These most recent awards offer further evidence that WestEd upholds the highest standards of excellence in research, development, and service. We are proud to join an elite cadre of organizations with an exceptional commitment to superior, effective publishing." The Vision Awards involve several hundred hours of judging on areas such as first impression, cover, creativity, message clarity, and information accessibility. The judging panel comprises communications and public relations experts practicing in the nation's leading companies and nonprofit organizations.
 

WestEd Publications Win Top National Accolades from Association of Educational Publishers
Association of Educational Publishers
June, 2005

WestEd, a nonprofit research, development, and service agency, was honored with several coveted awards by the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) at a gala ceremony in Washington, D.C. on June 8, 2005.

In a stiff nationwide competition, the agency's Web site, www.WestEd.org, was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award (DAA) for best organizational site. WestEd's 2003 Annual Report also took the top prize in its category, winning the superior Beacon Award.

Two additional WestEd publications won the top trophies in their categories. Innovations in Education: Successful Charter Schools, a guide published under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Innovation and Improvement, garnered the DAA for best interior design. Rethinking High School: Five Profiles of Innovative Models for Student Success, a study by WestEd for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, took the DAA prize for best illustrations and graphics.

Upon hearing news of the multiple awards, Glen Harvey, CEO of WestEd, praised the agency's staff, stating, "I am pleased that WestEd's publications once again have been honored as best in class. We are proud of our time-honored tradition of upholding the highest standards of excellence in research, development, and service."

The highly competitive annual AEP awards are the result of a rigorous two-tiered screening process. Entries are first reviewed by screening judges, who narrow the field, followed by the final certifying committee that reviews and certifies finalists and winners in all categories. The judging panel comprises experts from the nation's leading education magazines and newspapers, publishers, and nonprofit institutions.

Several WestEd products garnered additional honors as finalists in other categories:
 

WestEd Named One of the Best Places to Work in Bay Area
San Francisco Business Times, Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, and Deloitte
April, 2005

WestEd has been selected as one of the top 100 Best Places to Work in the Greater Bay Area in 2005 by the San Francisco Business Times, the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, and Deloitte. This is the second consecutive year that WestEd has been so honored. The prestigious award recognizes that the agency attracts, retains, and engages high-quality employees through positive working conditions, benefits, and corporate culture.

This year’s awards program for the Bay Area attracted about 400 entries. Nonprofit organizations contended with for-profit corporations in this year's competition, making WestEd's high ranking an even more significant achievement. more
 

WestEd Garners Platinum and Gold Honors
League of American Communications Professionals
November, 2004

Three WestEd resources placed in the top 100 in the League of American Communications Professionals’ (LACP) 2004 Spotlight Awards Publicity Materials Competition. The WestEd Products & Services Catalog placed 4th; the WestEd 2003 Annual Report placed 41st; and WestEd.org placed 87th. The agency also received seven awards for excellence in the development of print and Web public relations materials:
  • The WestEd Products & Services Catalog won two awards: a Platinum Award in the overall Best Narrative category and a Gold Award in the Toolkits, Mailers, and Related category.
  • The 2003 Annual Report won two Gold Awards — for overall Best Narrative category and Annual Report category.
  • WestEd.org won two awards: a Gold Award in the Web Site/Intranet Site category and a Bronze Award in the overall Best Debut category.
  • WestEd’s R&D Alert, Vol. 5, No. 2, won a Bronze Award in the Web Newsletter/Magazine category.
Competition was exceptionally rigorous this year with more than 850 entries submitted from nearly a dozen countries. Christine Kennedy, LACP’s Competition Director, says, “Winners in this year’s competition demonstrated an outstanding focus on communicating through creativity, passion, and vibrance, which ultimately helped target audiences understand and appreciate the relevance and importance of these organizations’ messages.” WestEd is honored to have received these distinctions from the LACP.
 

2004 Distinguished Achievement Award
Association of Educational Publishers
June, 2004

WestEd has been honored with the coveted Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) Distinguished Achievement Award (DAA) for Excellence in Educational Publishing. The agency’s Web site homepage, http://WestEd.org, received top acclaim nationwide in the DAA Web Site Design category on June 8th at the AEP’s annual awards gala in Washington, D.C.

Competition was particularly rigorous this year with judges for the 41st annual AEP Awards considering more than 1,400 entries from which 119 winners were selected.

WestEd joins an elite cadre of companies in the supplemental publishing field who have been honored for excellence in their products. An AEP award, earned after thorough analysis by a national panel of experts, confers upon the winner the right to display the Lamp of Learning logo on its products and Web site. This "seal of approval" signifies that a product or resource has met the highest standard of excellence.

In addition to receiving the Distinguished Achievement Award for Excellence, four other WestEd resources were selected as finalists by the AEP judges:
  1. Resiliency: What We Have Learned by Bonnie Benard, WestEd Senior Program Associate, in the Books: Whole Publication category;
  2. WestEd 2002 Annual Report in the Annual Report category;
  3. WestEd.org in the Web Sites: Informational/Organization category; and
  4. WestEd.org Products & Resources page in the Web Site/Marketing category.
Visit EdPress.org for a complete list of award recipients.
 

2003 Vision Awards Annual Report Competition
League of American Communications Professionals
June, 2004

Bronze: WestEd 2003 Annual Report
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WestEd's 2003 Annual Report garnered a bronze medal in the educational/nonprofit category of the League of American Communications Professionals' (LACP) 2003 Vision Awards Annual Report Competition. The competition with over 1,200 entries was judged by a field of communications professionals affiliated with LACP. Their expertise spans a broad spectrum of public relations functions ranging from corporate, executive, and internal communications for Fortune 500 organizations to product, service, and nonprofit publicity expertise.
 

2004 Distinguished Achievement and Beacon Awards Finalist
Association of Educational Publishers
April, 2004

WestEd was selected as a finalist in three categories of the Association of Educational Publishers’ (AEPs') 2004 Distinguished Achievement Awards program for outstanding education products. Judged by peers and experts, the awards provide an objective, authoritative evaluation of submitted work. The WestEd finalists are:
  • The book, Resiliency: What We Have Learned, by Bonnie Benard, in the Whole Publication: Professional Development category;
  • The redesigned agency Web site, WestEd.org, in the Web Sites: Informational – Organizations category; and
  • The agency Web site home page, WestEd.org, in the Web Sites: Design – Home Page category.
WestEd also has been selected as a finalist in two categories of AEP’s 2004 Beacon Awards, recognizing outstanding education marketing. The WestEd finalists are:
  • The WestEd 2002 Annual Report in the Annual Report category; and
  • The WestEd Products & Resources page in the Web Site: Marketing category.
Winners in each category will be announced at two awards ceremonies June 8, 2004, during the AEP Annual Educational Publishing Summit in Washington D.C.
 

Spotlight 2003 Awards Publicity Materials Competition
League of American Communications Professionals
October, 2003

Silver Award: WestEd R&D Alert newsletter
Bronze Award, Best Debut: WestEd series Policy Perspectives
Bronze Award: Program brochure for the Comprehensive School Reform Facilitator Initiative
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For the second consecutive year, the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP) presented WestEd with awards for excellence in the development of our publications. Our agency won three awards in the LACP's 2003 Spotlight Awards Publicity Materials Competition:
  • WestEd’s agency newsletter, R&D Alert, won a Silver Award.
  • A program brochure written and designed for the Comprehensive School Reform Facilitator Initiative won a Bronze Award.
  • WestEd's new series, Policy Perspectives, won a Bronze Award in the Best Debut category.
 

2002 Vision Awards Annual Report Competition
League of American Communications Professionals
July, 2003

Bronze: WestEd 2002 Annual Report
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WestEd's 2002 Annual Report garnered a bronze medal in the educational/nonprofit category of the League of American Communications Professionals' (LACP) 2002 Vision Awards Annual Report Competition. The competition with over 900 entries was judged by a field of communications professionals affiliated with LACP. Their expertise spans a broad spectrum of public relations functions ranging from corporate, executive, and internal communications for Fortune 500 organizations to product, service, and nonprofit publicity expertise.
 

Model Initiative
National Center for Children in Poverty
December, 2002

The National Center for Children in Poverty named WestEd’s Program for Infant/Toddler Caregivers (PITC) a model initiative to support infants, toddlers, and their families.
 

2002 Distinguished Achievement Award
Association of Educational Publishers
June, 2002

Best Newsletter: WestEd R&D Alert
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WestEd's thrice-yearly newsletter, R&D Alert, won the Association of Educational Publishers' (EdPress) coveted 2002 Distinguished Achievement Award for "Best Newsletter." R&D Alert provides substantive information and balanced perspectives based on WestEd knowledge and research in education and healthy development. Each issue focuses on a current topic relevant to schools and communities and combines insightful content with lively design. The winning 2001 issues of R&D Alert explore Assessment for Education Improvement, Help for Low-Performing Schools, and Evaluation Research.
 

2002 Partner in Excellence Award
Office of Federal Contract and Compliance Programs Pacific Region
June, 2002

The Office of Federal Contract and Compliance Programs Pacific Region honored WestEd with the 2002 Partner in Excellence Award in recognition of the agency’s continued commitment to equal employment opportunities and service to the community.
 

Innovative Teaching Education Resources A+
Innovative Teaching
February, 2002

WestEd’s Distance Learning Resource Network (DLRN) was featured on the Innovative Teaching Education Resources Web site as one of the best online resources to augment classroom instructional materials. The DLRN received the A+ designation after its rigorous evaluation based on substance, applicability, timeliness, usefulness, depth, creativity, and originality.
 

Outstanding Leadership Award
California Department of Education
October, 2001

WestEd received the Outstanding Leadership Award from the California Department of Education for its unwavering support of the California Regional Environmental Education Community (CREEC) Network, which connects teachers with high quality environmental education resources.
 

Busy Educator Award
Busy Educator's Newsletter
June, 2001

WestEd’s Distance Learning Resource Network (DLRN) received commendation from the Busy Educator's Newsletter, an online newsletter that keeps educators informed on useful Web sites, news releases, book and e-book reviews, and software reviews.
 

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